Clarity Corporation

Enteroptyx

Other

Xomed, Inc.

Richards Medical Company

Smith & Nephew Richards Inc.

Xomed Surgical Products, Inc.

Microtek Medical Inc.

Grace Medical, Inc.

Richards Metal Company

Anthony D Prescott

Harlan J Reitan

Michael D White

Richard W Mendius

Robert Brosnahan

Jorgen Heide

Patrick Joseph Antonelli

Patrick Ireland

J Patrick Ireland

Timothy D Gooch

Casper Briggs

Richard W Treharne

Thomas W Sander

Jorgan Heide

Jim Davidson

Eric A Renz

Murray Beard

Loren J Bartels

Dennis Bojrab

A system includes a handpiece and a removable tool assembly including a holder body, a shaft, a medical tool, a guard, and a sleeve. The body engages the handpiece and defines a bore. The shaft extends within the bore and the tool is provided to the distal end of the shaft. The guard is coupled to the body via a snap fit connection at the bore and may be friction fit to a bearing sleeve located between the guard and the shaft, such that longitudinal translation of the guard relative to the body longitudinally displaces the guard. The shaft extends within the bore of the body and the guard. The guard is positioned relative to the body by a distance to define a working length of the tool between the distal end of the guard and the distal tip of the tool. The working length of the tool may be used to cut tissue, without concern that cutting will be deeper than intended.

Surgical drill handpiece with adjustable cutting tool guard

A cleaning system includes a surgical tool assembly having a longitudinal shaft and a sleeve surrounding the longitudinal shaft. The system includes an injector head and body that receive the assembly. The head has an inlet coupling that fluidly couples to a pressurized fluid source. The body couples to the head to house the assembly between the head and the body. The body has an outlet coupling to fluidly couple to a vacuum source. When the assembly is housed between the head and the body, at least one fluid pathway is formed between the inlet coupling, the head, the shaft and the sleeve, the body, and the outlet coupling. A positive pressure fluid source is coupled to the inlet coupling and a vacuum source is connected to the outlet coupling to establish a pressure differential across the fluid pathway sufficient to draw the fluid therethrough.

Surgical instrument sanitizer apparatus, system, and method of use

An ossicular prosthesis is adjustable in length and temporarily and resiliently adjustable in angular orientation. The prosthesis includes a head for contacting a tympanic membrane, and a resilient sleeve is mounted within the head. An elongate shaft extends through the sleeve, and includes a distal end adapted to engage a footplate or stapes. The sleeve forms a resilient joint that allows the shaft to undergo an angular motion relative to the sleeve when subject to a non-axial force, and then subsequently return to its original position after the force is removed. The sleeve may also be longitudinally displaceable within the head of the prosthesis such that the shaft can undergo a damped linear motion. Also as a result of the arrangement of the sleeve, the prosthesis is adjustable to a very short length.

Adjustable length ossicular prosthesis with low profile resilient joint

A system includes a handpiece and a removable tool assembly including a holder body, a shaft, a cutting bur, a guard, and a sleeve. The body engages the handpiece and defines a bore. The shaft extends within the bore and the bur is provided to the distal end of the shaft. The guard is coupled to the body via a threaded mating at the bore, such that rotation of the guard relative to the body longitudinally displaces the guard. The extends within the bore of the body and the guard. The guard is positioned relative to the body by a distance to define a working length of the bur between the distal end of the guard and the distal tip of the bur. The working length of the bur is used to cut tissue, without concern that cutting will be deeper than intended.

A suction activated instrumentation system for use in implanting an ossicular prosthesis into the middle ear includes a suction handpiece and a vacuum source. A removable suction tip is coupled to the handpiece for engaging an ossicular prosthesis. The suction tip includes a distal portion with an elongate slot opening at an end face, and two arms defined at the end face. When suction is applied through the suction tip, the prosthesis is drawn against the end face and retained between the arms. In the event the prosthesis is inadvertently contacted during implantation, the suction tip provides for self-correction, causing a prosthesis to re-orient into the prior intended configuration.

Suction grasper for ossicular prosthesis

A system is provided for stabilized total ossicular replacement in a middle ear having an intact stapes with a capitulum and a footplate. The system includes an ossicular replacement prosthesis including with elongate shaft and a head coupled to the shaft, and a stabilizer that couples the prosthesis to the stapes. The stabilizer has a first portion with a first opening and a second portion with a second opening, said first opening sized to stably engage the shaft of the prosthesis, and said second opening sized to stably engage the capitulum. When the shaft and capitulum are engaged they are retained in an side-by side configuration. The stabilizer may be constructed of an elastic polymer, an elastic metal alloy, a plastic material or a shape memory material.

Ossicular prosthesis with stabilizer and method of use with intact stapes

A medical instrument for use on a patient. The medical instrument includes a housing having a proximal end and a distal end, an electric motor mounted to the housing having a drive shaft rotatable about a drive axis, a drive magnet fixed to the drive shaft of said motor which rotates with the drive shaft about the drive axis, and a tool assembly coupled to the housing via a tool mount. The tool mount orients the tool assembly relative to the housing whereby guided rotational, translational, and/or oscillary motion of a tool within the tool assembly is achieved via the structure of the tool mount in conjunction with a magnetic coupling between magnets attached to both the motor and the tool.

Surgical instrument having a magnetically driven detachable tool assembly

A method of altering a medical implant having a shape memory portion includes the use of a probe having a tip provided with an induction coil. The induction coil is electrically coupled to an induction power supply. The induction coil is inserted into the mammalian body. The power supply is activated at a suitable frequency to cause the induction coil to generate a magnetic field, wherein such magnetic field induces eddy currents in the shape memory portion of the implant which are sufficient to heat the shape memory portion of the implant to a phase transformation temperature to effect shape change of the implant.

Induction heater system for shape memory medical implants and method of activating shape memory medical implants within the mammalian body

A middle ear prosthesis comprises a body of deformable material capable of retaining different shapes. The body comprises a slotted wall defining a cavity for receiving a bone of the middle ear. The wall is deformable proximate slots in the wall between an open position for receiving the bone and a closed position wherein the body is reshaped to grasp the bone.

Middle ear prosthesis

An ossicular prosthesis delivery system having an ossicular prosthesis including an enlarged head and a shaft axially, moveably mounted to the head to adjust shaft length. An elongate main body having an operating portion, including a cylindrical through bore, connected to an adjusting portion, including a generally semi-cylindrical upwardly opening channel coaxial with the bore. An end wall at a distal end of the adjusting portion includes a through passage coaxial with the channel and an upwardly opening cavity. An elongate cylindrical plunger has a claw at one end. The plunger is received in the bore with the claw in the channel and an opposite end extending outwardly of the operating portion. The ossicular prosthesis' shaft is positioned in the channel with the head received in the cavity and the plunger is rotatable in the bore to capture the shaft and is reciprocally moveable in the bore to adjust shaft length of the ossicular prosthesis.

Ossicular prosthesis adjusting device

A titanium incudo-stapedial joint prosthesis comprises a body including a generally tubular wall defining a first cavity for receiving a head of a stapes. A generally U-shaped wall is connected to the tubular wall defining a second cavity extending generally perpendicular to the first cavity for receiving an incus. The tubular wall comprises slots to enable the first cavity to be sized to fit the head of the stapes. The general U-shaped wall comprises slots to enable the second cavity to be sized to fit to the incus.

Titanium incudo-stapedial joint prosthesis

A punctum plug includes a body portion having a nose and rim portions which meet at an angle which facilitates both insertion and retention. In addition, the shaft of the plug includes a circumferential groove level with the top of the body which increases flexibility between the shaft and body of the plug. Furthermore, the groove locates the pivot point of the rim of the body radially inward which increases the flexibility of the rim.

Punctum plug

A lacrimal insert includes a body defining a reservoir, and a head provided at an end of the body and closing the reservoir. The body is made from a material impermeable to the medication while the head is made from a permeable material adapted to release the medication from the reservoir to the eye at a determinable rate. In one manufacture, the body of the insert is molded and includes a hole at a tip end; the head is molded onto the body; the medication is injected into the insert through the tip end hole; and the tip end is sealed. The portion of the insert at which the medication is released is precisely fabricated in order to control release of the medication, and the reservoir is filled and then closed away from the area of medication permeability.

Lacrimal insert having reservoir with controlled release of medication and method of manufacturing the same

A stapedial prosthesis includes a body defining a bucket and a shaft, and a bail handle coupled to the bucket. The bucket is preferably adjustable in diameter to fit the incus lenticular process. The shaft preferably has a varying diameter, with a central portion of a smaller diameter than a distal portion which aids in depth perception during implantation and reduces mass to permit better sound energy transmission by the prosthesis. The bail handle is preferably spring-loaded and preferably constructed of titanium. The bail handle is preferably coupled to the body without crimping, twisting or welding and preferably biases the incus toward the bucket. A method of implanting a stapedial prosthesis is also provided.

Growing community of inventors

Arlington, TN, United States of America

Anthony D Prescott